Thursday, March 04, 2010
There ain’t no ITIL® Certificate hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box [1]
The topic of this blog isinspired by a panel discussion I was part of at our 14th Annual IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this past February.
The topic of the panel discussion was The Real Benefits Of Professional Certification. The panel was moderated by Rob England (a.k.a. The IT Skeptic). On the panel were, me, Richard Pharro (APM Group), Aidan Lawes (independent consultant) and Julia Chapelle (Loyalist Certification Services).
The discussions were going well and there was good participation by the audience. The topics were varied and many clarifications provided by the panelists.
I have to admit that towards the end I got flustered. The topic was about the ability to write an ITIL® V3 intermediate certification exam without taking a course. It is permitted to take the Foundation exam without taking a course, but not the Intermediates.
However, why would anyone want to “dumb down” IT’s credibility? Just as we are finally turning the corner, becoming more business focused and recognized by the business as an integral part of the organization’s success - and just as we are getting IT personnel to start thinking in terms of business requirements and business outcomes, this question comes up.
If people are allowed to take an ITIL® intermediate exam without having to take a course, the following is likely to happen. Some accredited training organizations (ATO)s could possibly go out of business unless they go into another direction. Consulting organizations will lose their credibility because they will be regarded as having theoretical knowledge only. The Service Management software tool vendors will be able to make all sorts of claims regarding the compliance or compatibility to the framework. A significant portion of the IT industry will disappear and IT’s credibility is very likely to go down the drain.
If people are allowed to take an ITIL® intermediate exam without having to take a course, it will set the IT industry back about 20 years; right about the time ITIL® was born.
Is there any other businesses group that does not require their members to be properly certified? Spare me the sarcastic comments about so-and-so or about a group you may not like.
How can anyone claim to be an expert in any field without…
a) attending the courses
b) reading the books
c) passing exams
d) practicing the knowledge
e) keeping up-to-date
f) consulting the literature forming their body of knowledge?
Would you consider someone coming out of a trade school such as a mechanic, a dental assistant, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, etc, to be an expert? I would not. They may be very enthusiastic and be very good at what they do but they lack the so-called “real-world” experience.
I am not implying that some people cannot simply read the book, then take the exam and pass it. Many are capable of achieving this. However, allowing people to take the ITIL® intermediate exams without attending a course would severely undermine the credibility of the whole certification scheme.
Yes there are organizations such as the Project Management Institute® (www.pmi.org) and ISACA®, previously known as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, (www.isaca.org) where people can take examinations without taking a course.
However, both these organizations require proof of experience in their domain as well as meeting requirements. It is also strongly suggested that taking a course will greatly increase your chances of passing the examinations.
In the case of ISACA®, the designation is awarded to those individuals with an interest in […] who have met and continue to meet the requirements. Please visit their website for exact details on their various certifications and their requirements.
In the case of PMI®, one has to obtain a credential, prepare for the exam, and maintain their credentials.
ITIL® certification follows a different path but let’s make sure that we play by the rules.
Here is a final thought on this topic. How can anyone claim to be an expert in any field if they don’t put in the sweat equity (effort)?
Q. Will you become physically fit if you buy a membership to a gym?
A. No
Q. Will you become physically fit if you buy the latest gym-wear fashion clothes and accessories?
A. No
Q. Will you become physically fit if you go to the gym?
A. No
Q. Why is the answer no for the above questions?
A. Because you actually have to use the equipment properly, follow a diverse exercise program and exercise on a regular basis.
[1] Meat Loaf: Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad - song lyrics from the Bat out of Hell Album from Epic/Legacy Records - ASIN: B000056VJ7(www.sonymusic.com)
Cracker Jack box: Property of Frito-Lay: (www.fritolay.com), a division of PepsiCo (www.pepsico.com)
Monday, March 01, 2010
This is (almost) not a column about Best Practices
Wow, it is already March 01, 2010. But, how can I write an ITIL-related column after all that has happened over the last five weeks?
First, my wife and I went on a wonderful one-week cruise in the Eastern Caribbean Islands. We enjoyed great food, great weather, wonderful sites, great hospitality, fantastic snorkeling, sailing and very (and I do mean very) relaxing and beautiful beaches.
We did not once speak or even thought about work. The only electronic equipments were my 35mm camera and my wife’s MP3 player. That was it; no laptops, no email, n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
The first two weeks of February were about putting on the final touches for our 14th Annual ITSM Conference in Las Vegas. We then delivered the pre-conference workshops and courses. This was followed by the conference itself, which was a success (as usual – sorry about boasting here). We had great speakers, extremely interesting case studies, and a very busy exhibitor’s hall. As hosts, it is up very early, stand all day, meet and greet people and take care of our customers first, and foremost. I met old friends, made new ones and hey, I learned a lot too.
However, I guess the best part of February were the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia; right in our backyard. Eh, Canada is one huge backyard created specifically, for outdoor activities, fun, friends, and parties.
Not everything went smoothly. The game started on a sad note when a 21-year-old Georgian luger died in a practice run the day before the games began. This was followed by a technical glitch when one of the four pillars for the Olympic flame did not rise as planned. Oh well, you have to expect that Murphy’s Law is bound to show up at some time.
There were many stories of courage under adversity. There were expected and unexpected triumph and losses. Records were broken; childhood dreams were finally realized while some had their dreams shattered; this is what the games are all about.
So, we won at our game, ice hockey. So we had 14 gold medals, a new winter games all time record. Let us not forget the 37 medals won by the USA, also a record. Let us not forget about all the medal winners who won by playing fair. Let us acknowledge the judges and referees who applied the rules fairly and consistently. Let us acknowledge all the volunteers and the hard work done by all over the last seven years to make this dream a reality.
My only disappointment is that the Paralympics do not happen at the same time. These people are athletes who sacrificed just as much as the others did to make it to the games. The summer and winter games should involve both so-called regular athletes and paralympians. Actually, we should simply call all of them Olympic Athletes. Let us do away with the “disabilities” shall we?
You have to recognize and acknowledge that we Canadian know how to party and know how to poke fun at ourselves, all tongue in cheek of course.
What does this have to do with best practices? If you are looking to learn about working together for the greater good, come to Canada, eh, and we’ll show you, eh. If you are looking to learn about great customer service (This is the best practice component) and hospitality, come to Canada, eh, and we’ll show you, eh.
If you are looking a great place for vacationing and for partying, come to Canada, eh, and we’ll show you, eh.
Until next time eh!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Education and Training issues - Part 3
In my previous blog entry, I mention that I would start mapping soft skills to processes and/or activity within a given process.
I also provided this word of caution: of course, all the soft skills would apply but if your education dollars are limited, the mapping would represent you biggest “bang for your buck” (i.e.: benefit).
Here are SOME examples of soft skills
• Team Building - includes
o Uniting a team amidst cultural differences
o Interacting with others (includes observing various forms of etiquette)
o Defusing arguments with timing, instructions and polite, concise language
• Leadership
• Teaching
• Presenting
• Public speaking – includes maintaining…
o Meaningless conversation (small talk)
o Meaningful conversation (discussion/debate)
o Feigning interest and speaking intelligently about any topic
• Negotiating
• Motivating
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Listening
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Writing
It would seem obvious to follow the lifecycle of a service and follow the order of the ITIL® core books. To many, this would not make sense. However, many may argue the most popular topics being Service Operation, Service Transition, Service Catalog Management, and Service Level Management; this is where we should start. Even within Operation and Transition, not all processes offer the same level of interest to everyone. The following list is not scientific but it is based on the most popular courses and consulting topics people call us about, here at Pink Elephant. There are in alphabetical order as they are among the most popular, Change Management, Incident Management, Problem management, Service Asset & Configuration management, Service Catalog Management, Service Desk, and Service Level Management.
However, before I start looking at any process in particular, I shall be looking at the Service Operation functions, which are:
- IT Operations – IT Operation Control and Facilities Management
- Technical Management
- Application Management
- Service Desk
Here is what the Service Operation book says about the four functions in regards to communication, education, and training.
Section 5.14.5 Communication
It should go without saying that good communication about changing requirements, technology and processes will result in improvement in Service Operation. However, communication is often neglected. Service Operation improvement is dependent on formal and regular communication between teams responsible for design, support, and operation of services.
Section 5.14.6 Education and training
Service Operation teams should understand the importance of what they do on a daily basis. Education is required to ensure that staff understand what business functions or services are supported by their activities. This will encourage greater care and attention to detail and will also help Service Operation teams to better identify business priorities.
Training programs should ensure that all staff have the appropriate skills for the technology or applications that they are managing. Training should always be provided when new technology is introduced, or when existing technology is changed.
Technical Management and Application Management
As per the Service Book, sections 6.3.1 and 6.5.1, Technical and Application Management have very similar dual roles.
- They are the custodian of knowledge and expertise related to managing the IT Infrastructure.
- They ensure that the knowledge required to design, test, manage and improve IT services is identified, developed, and refined.
- They provide the actual resources to support the ITSM Lifecycle.
- They ensure that the resources are effectively trained and deployed to design, build, transition, operate, and improve the technology required to deliver and support IT services.
Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, some of the following may or may not be in place. However, I would argue that regardless of the organization, there are managers and there are technical personnel.
For all four functions, here some possible roles
Possible management roles: manager, supervisor, team leader, senior analyst
Possible technical roles: senior, intermediate, and entry-level analysts
By the way, it does not matter if the people performing these roles are internal or are employed by a third party supplier; they all require soft skills proficiency.
In the following list, I am using
[M] - represent management roles
[A] - represent analysts performing technical roles
[B] - indicate that it applies equally to both
Team Building [M] / [A]
• Uniting a team amidst cultural differences [M]
• Interacting with others (includes observing various forms of etiquette) [B]
• Defusing arguments with timing, instructions and polite, concise language [B]
Leadership [M]
Teaching [M]
Presenting [M]
Public speaking – includes maintaining… [B]
• Meaningless conversation (small talk) [A]
• Meaningful conversation (discussion/debate) [B]
• Feigning interest and speaking intelligently about any topic [B]
Negotiating [M]
Motivating [M]
Decision making [M]
Problem solving [A]
Listening [B]
Coaching [M]
Mentoring [M]
Writing [B]
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Education and Training issues - Part 2
In my previous blog entry, I started to discuss training issues and completed with the following.
“Organizations must incorporate soft skills education and training. However, they must first design, engineer and foster a corporate culture that will enable this to happen and empower the people to act on it.”
What does this actually mean?
First, we need to define soft skills. Looking at Merriam-Webster, Business Dictionary, and Wikipedia online definitions, we can summarize soft skills as:
Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster online
[The] ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance
[The] dexterity or coordination especially in the execution of learned physical tasks
A learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability [such as] language skills
Business dictionary (Business Dictionary online)
Communication, conflict resolution, human relation, making presentations, negotiating, team building, and other such ability defined in terms of expected outcomes and not as a specific method or technique such as statistical analysis.
Wikipedia (Wikipedia online)
Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person’s “EQ” (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person’s IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.
Here are SOME examples of soft skills
• Team Building - includes
o Uniting a team amidst cultural differences
o Interacting with others (includes observing various forms of etiquette)
o Defusing arguments with timing, instructions and polite, concise language
• Leadership
• Teaching
• Presenting
• Public speaking – includes maintaining
o Meaningless conversation (small talk)
o Meaningful conversation (discussing, debating)
o Feigning interest and speaking intelligently about any topic
• Negotiating
• Motivating
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Listening
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Writing
In my next blog entry, I will map the above soft skills to process and/or activity within a given process.
Word of caution: Of course, all the above would apply but if your education dollars are limited, the mapping would represent you biggest “bang for your buck” (i.e.: benefit)
To be continued
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Education and Training issues - Part 1
I have been following a few exchanges about education in various social media environments lately. Most of them are great discussions. I am paying particular attention to those relating to IT, ITSM and ITIL. So far, it seems to me most participants in these exchanges (including myself) agree the ITIL literature and the ITIL certification do not cover everything. One of the most interesting discussion centers on soft skills and ITIL.
OGC and APMG are promoting ITIL, Project, Program, and Risk Management. It should not be expected of them to incorporate other well-defined framework and qualification into the mix. Others already do this. The scope of the complementary guidance in ITIL is for ITIL specific, specialized, and expanded literature and qualifications about ITIL topics. A great example is the Service Catalogue certification.
Conferences and trade-shows, blogs and webinars offer us *the educators and trainers) great platforms to push the envelope beyond “ITIL.”
There are no perfect frameworks or methodologies out there. You know this and I know this. A combination of the frameworks and methodologies will result in the industry shaping itself into what it should become.
It is my humble opinion that we agree something must be done. What we need is thought leadership and leadership to say enough is enough and tell organizations that additional activities (such as x, y, and z) need also be done. As I have mentioned in my blog a few times we, the ITIL education, consulting and vendor community) are doing ourselves a major disservice by insisting on calling everything IT-this and IT-that.
If you look at the five ITIL core books, they simply mention, and very briefly define, other frameworks and methodologies. Because of copyright issues and in order not to re-invent the proverbial wheel, the authors were instructed to mention only other frameworks and methodologies and their touch points.
In regards to the other frameworks and methodologies, such as CMMI, COBIT, PMI, PRINCE2, and SIX SIGMA, to name but a few, they all complement each other, as we all know. None of them is all-encompassing. Based on the readings that I do and the conversations that I have, I can safely say the other frameworks and methodologies suffer very similar issues such as perceived omissions in many areas especially soft skills.
What we are facing is attitude and contempt. People believe that cost cutting, outsourcing and asking personnel to work longer hours and to get the job done are the solutions. Wrong. Go to any bookstore and look at the self-help section. It is all about communication, self-awareness, and being at peace with the environment, oneself, and others. Go to the business section and you get so many books about corporate culture and business behaviors.
Then go the IT section and all you (mostly) see are technical books. There is very little about soft skills.
The issue s much bigger than we think. What we require is a major change in attitude by IT professionals and businesses in general.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. However, I do believe that the more we push communication, including behavior and related skills; we will change the culture of IT eventually. It will be a long and arduous road.
I do agree that culture is a huge component of what we are faced with as instructors and consultants. One of the major obstacles to any of the above is that executives believe that you can simply plug it in, turn it on and voila!
POP quiz: what is one of the first items to be cut in tough economic times?
Answer: education and training.
Trainers must be careful not to thread outside the scope of the course syllabus. There is always a temptation to stray into exciting topics but they can distract the delegates (students) from their two primary objectives; acquiring knowledge and passing the exam. (NOTE: I understand that for many, the objectives are reversed and that acquiring new knowledge may be secondary or even irrelevant). If trainers spend too much time on other topics, such as “soft skills” during a class the students may complain the trainer did not prepare them adequately for the exam. However, the stories, the analogies, the examples and the additional “value-add” material were terrific and likely the best part of the course. By the way, I know first hand what it feels like as I made the above mistake a few times.
Organizations must incorporate soft skills education and training. However, they must first design, engineer and foster a corporate culture that will enable this to happen and empower the people to act on it.
To be continued…
Friday, January 15, 2010
Is all that stuff out there worth it?
As many of you know there is an ginormous (Extraordinarily large in size, extent, amount, power or degree – source: WordWeb Online - WordWeb Online- Ginormous) amount of information on the internet about all sort of Service Management related topics. They range from the “must-read” to the “delete-it-without-reading” and everything in between.
If there are some very good pieces of original work available, there is also a lot of pasting the official literature or the work of others and making it one’s own.
There are (in alphabetical order – and sorry if I missed anything) articles, blogs, books, book summaries, condensed versions, discussions pocket guides, research papers, reports, social media, webinars, and finally, whitepapers, (both live and recorded).
There are individuals and legitimate organizations promoting Service Management in a positive way. Then you have those who simply like to “trash-talk.” I do understand that everyone is entitled to his or her opinions but using the internet as a vehicle for personal attacks against someone or against an organization is, in my opinion, both tactless and classless.
I heard a radio commercial a few years back where the spokesperson said:
“Do you know what’s good about the internet? All that stuff all over the place.”
“Do you know what’s bad about the internet? All that stuff all over the place.”
One of the major obstacles is time. There is so much material available out there and I’d love to be able to read it all, but I can’t.
There are many categories of material out there such as:
• New ideas
• New products
• Analysis of what is good
• Analysis of what is bad
• Self-promotion
• Explanation of topics
• Rehashing of topics
• Old ideas spun as new
• Opinions of what should be done
• Opinions about what something should be or
Here is my twist; the plot thickens. I actually believe we need the whole spectrum of good and bad stuff out there as well as people expressing their views and opinions. How else are we going to make things better?
I have one request.
If you are going to complain, make sure you have your facts straight and offer a sensible solution.
If you have an idea for improvement, send it in. If no one hears from you, how can anyone improve his or her products or ideas?
Of course, you’ll need to schedule some time to do this. 
Monday, January 04, 2010
2010 Resolutions: Education, training and certifications
First, let me offer you my best wishes for 2010.
1. Health to you and your loved ones
2. Peace in these troubled times
3. Political and economic stability around the world
4. Employment for those looking for it
Ah the start of a new year, the start of a new decade, it is the time for resolutions. Sure, we have the usual suspects such as dieting, exercising, quitting smoking, spending more time with family and friends and others. But, what about corporations making resolutions? I believe that all organizations, both private and public, should make the following resolutions in 2010 (and every year thereafter actually)
1. Create and foster a culture based on the acquisition and sharing of knowledge, education and training
2. Provide the means (time, money, and material) to the personnel to achieve <1> above
3. Encourage the dissemination of the knowledge acquired via <1> and <2> above – Knowledge SHARING is power.
4. Enable the employees to acquire the required material such as books, white papers, articles, knowledge bases, etc.
I know that I have discussed this topic a few times already in this blog but please indulge me as I get on my soapbox again at the beginning of this New Year.
Pop quiz: What is the difference between education and training?
Education is the acquisition of new knowledge
Training is the practical application of the newly acquired knowledge
Training is the continual practical application of the acquired knowledge
Note from Pierre – There is a simpler, more direct way of explaining the difference but it is totally inappropriate in this blog. If you ever meet me in a beverage place, you can ask me then.
Don’t be seduced by certification for the sake of certification. In my humble opinion, a wise person would have the knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and aptitudes to take the literature on a specific topic and be able to apply it based on the needs and requirements of the situation.
We all have to be careful about certifications. A gentleman once showed me a 3 inch (about 7.5 cm) binder full of certificates he had achieved in his career. Did this demonstrate that he had both the knowledge and the experience? In my humble opinion and my dealings with him, he did not. Look, I personally have certificates on technology and software we can probably only find in a box in a basement somewhere. Are the certifications relevant for our current needs?
Too many people think that having a foundation level certification in any topic makes them an expert in implementing it. <...Please insert sarcastic comments here...> If this was true than I should be an accountant because I took three introductory level accounting courses as electives when I was attending university. I mean no offence to anyone working in any accounting or finance department. They do a great job. I know that three measly introduction level courses in accounting do not make me an accountant.
To me certification means that someone can learn and acquire knowledge. To me, nothing beats experience. Some people are very good at taking and at passing exams. However, can they actually apply the knowledge? On the flip side, there are people who do poorly with exams but a very good at what they do.
We have to look at two perspectives here. The first is that people attend certification courses to acquire the knowledge. They will start applying that knowledge once back at the office. Then we have the other end of the spectrum where very experienced people attend a certification course to “prove’ what they know about what they have already been doing for so long.
Which is better or best?
a) Someone learning something, achieving certification then applying it in his or her work
b) Someone with a lot of experience achieving a certification on something they already have a lot of experience with
c) Both
d) Neither
e) It depends
Pierre’s answer
Many organizations believe in continuous education for their personnel. They are not afraid to invest time, money and material (books anyone?). They understand that certification is but one-step in the grand scheme of things. On the other side, organizations refuse to provide education, training, and certification for their personnel.
Quote: “Why would I want to subsidize my competition or any other organization? As soon as my staff gets a new certification, they update their résumé (C.V.) and they leave.”
If you or your organization thinks that way, take a good hard look at resolution number one.
Additionally, which is better and more economical? Educating and training your personnel or hiring a consultant to come do the work then leaves without sharing anything.
In tough economic times, slashing the education and training budget is easy and immediately affects the bottom line. As I have said before, this is a huge mistake. Sure, some pundits out there are going to say that I am biased as I work for a company that sells education and training. These people don’t know me. I have always advocated education and training and I would do the same regardless of the industry vertical I worked in.
Keep in mind that an apple a day keeps the doctor away and that a gram of prevention is worth a kilo of cure
Monday, November 23, 2009
Education and Training Issues
Training organizations, regardless of what topic they cover, seem to face the same issue; the students are not prepared despite the numerous times the training organization instructs them to do so.
The message exists on the website, the course description, the syllabus, the confirmation email, the preparation package, the reminder email, or phone call.
You are an instructor, you welcome the delegates, and when you start talking about the preparation work, they all look surprised and tell you they did not know anything about it.
Surprise… Surprise…
This is, to me as an instructor, the most frustrating thing. It means i have to cater to the lowest common denominator which is to cover the basics instead of the advance topic I am supposed to cover.
questions like “...but what does the book say about how to do it?...” The book usually does not in the world of best practices, as the literature Oh, sorry, and since there is an exam at the end, exam anxiety sets in, the frustration level mounts, the customer satisfaction levels plummets and when someone fails, the instructor, the exam, the syllabus, the books, and the examination bodies are wrong.
One of the biggest issues here is the culture we live in. Everything has to be fast, everything has to be now, and people don’t want to put in the effort. I am not saying people are lazy; they just don’t have the time. People commute long hours stuck in their cars or taking public transportation and they “work” long hours. However, too often people work on meaningless tasks, make work projects, surf the internet for personal reasons on company time using company equipment, or socialize too much.
There is also the fact there are too many meetings. The problem with meetings is that there is no action items assigned with a deadline. There is too much talk and too little actual work done. How can you expect people to do any work when all they do is attend meetings?
Additionally, the executives of many organizations think that implementing any best practice is like installing a video game on a PC from a CD. We all know this is not the case. Add to this that organizations (mostly overpaid executives in search of the biggest paycheck for themselves) want to cut costs “at all costs” and we have the out of control situation. People think they have to be connected all the time; they check their cell phones all the time. You speak with someone, his or her phone rings and answer the phone. This is rude. People do this in meetings, private conversations and of course in education and training situations.
As instructors, we always hear that people can attend a course but they still have to be available and they have to do their job on top of that. This is non-sense.
Business etiquette is not what it used to be. We fell into the vicious circle of deploying something we know little (or nothing about), overworked staff, too little staff, and the mentality of “I wanted it yesterday.”
Therefore, it is no wonder that people come to class unprepared for the executives do not believe in “long term” education. People believe that attending a three-day foundation course will give them all they need to know.
It is like everything in life; if you don’t put in the effort (what I refer to as the sweat equity) you won’t get any results. Let’s face it; what we are experiencing is a reflection of the society we live in; fast food, junk food, complacency, too much technology and greed. The education system is suffering just as we do. Kids download essays from the internet, don’t study and parents are against homework. I am a parent and I had to fight many parents who complained that 30 minutes of homework a nigh stressed out their kids.
How does this reflect on our industry? I call it the “I want you (the instructor) to teach me everything you know about a topic both theory and practical aspects in as little time as possible.”
So how do we address this? We start at the top. We do a massive communication campaign in as many outlets as possible such as blogs, magazines, conferences, presentations to executives, etc.
Companies have to invest in people. We need to get people to understand the difference between education and training. Education is acquisition of knowledge and facts; training is the practical application of that knowledge. Being in the classroom to learn the signs and rules of the road is education. Being in a vehicle and actually driving is training.
My message to every organization is clear and simple. Slow down. Get some fresh air. Invest in your people through education and training. Stop cutting the education budget. You (the organization) will retain your employees longer; they will be more productive and have a greater job satisfaction level.
I am serious. How can someone become an expert in any field just by attending one week-long course? They can’t. Give them the resources, money to pay for the course, the books, and the time to prepare and attend the course. By the way, when they attend the course, they are not available.
I know what many are thinking right now. I am out of touch and I am not realistic. If we continue the way we do things today, best practice consulting will be around for a long time and companies will pay exorbitant amounts of money and time trying to sort this all out.
FINAL NOTE: In regards to the overpaid executives, this has always existed. A long time ago, their titles were chieftains, dukes, barons, lords, emperors, kings, etc. This happened in all societies on every continent. Read your history books.
Monday, November 16, 2009
What is the Service Offering and Agreement course (SOA) all about?
This certification is about the “transition” (no pun intended) between the Strategy phase and the Design phase.
Service Portfolio Management provides documentation for services and prospective services in business terms
- The portfolio helps IT understanding what IT ”sells” to its customer, what is coming down the pipeline, and explaining it in business terms
Service Catalog Management is about the production and documentation of the Service Catalog from a business and a technical viewpoint.
- There are two major components to the service catalog. The customer and IT both see and use the Business Service Catalog” section
- IT is the only one using the “Technical Service Catalog” section.
- The two sections are connected together.
Analogy:
The restaurant menu is the Business Service Catalog
The recipe book, the ordering system, the cash register, how to use the appliances is the “Technical Service Catalog”. The restaurant patrons don’t need to see this.
Financial Management is about ensuring the understanding of the service value and the management of all financial considerations
This process is about understanding how much it is costing us (IT) to deliver the services. One item delegates have a hard time differentiating is cost vs. price. From the IT perspective, we think of our “costs”. Then we decide what “price” we want to charge back to our customers. The difficulty arises when the customer asks, “How much does it costs?”
Pierre’s rant: IT must stop talking to the customer using “techno-babble” such as bits, bytes, gigabytes, and MIPS. IT must use the language of the business, MONEY!
Ex: Implementing this system will cost $50K but will save you $250K over three years.
Service Level Management sets up a Service Level Agreement (SLA) structure and ensures that all SLAs have an underpinning support structure in place
- The strategy phase has already decided what the services will be and described in the portfolio. It is up to the Design phase to fill in the blanks in the Catalog and determine what levels of service we can provide given the limitations (constraints) we have in IT, based on our capabilities and resources available.
- The other major constraint relates to the existing contracts we already have with our suppliers. Renegotiating is expensive and may not be worth it presently.
Demand Management identifies Patterns of Business Activity to enable the appropriate strategy to be implemented
- It is about understanding how much we anticipate the service to be used (demand).
Questions to ask:
- What are our busy periods (daily, weekly, monthly)?
- What are the reporting periods?
- How many users use this service?
- How often do they use it?
- How many transactions can we process?
- How big is one transaction on average?
- What is the maximum size of a transaction?
- Who uses the service?
- How knowledgeable are they?
- Which service is more important at any given time? (Not all services are always critical all the time)
Etc.
Supplier Management ensures all partners and suppliers are managed in the appropriate way and includes contract management
- A major constraint relates to the existing contracts we already have with our suppliers. Renegotiating is expensive and may not be worth it presently.
- IT needs to manage the relationship with its suppliers properly.
- It is easy to blame the supplier especially when the contract not not support the business needs. However, the supplier only delivers what is in the contract, next time, negotiate the contract after you know what the true business requirements are.
Finally, it is about managing customer’s expectations about what they can expect to receive and it is about educating IT as to what the agreements are. This is called COMMUNICATION.
Business Relationship Managers have the responsibility to represent customers and ensure the Service Catalogue and the Portfolio both have the right needs
In order to ensure good communication, IT staff involved with SOA must understand the operational activities of processes covered in other Lifecycle phases such as Incident and Change Management
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Best Practice Management and Academia
There is a major gap in the education provided by universities and colleges in regards to the integration and synergy between the Business and IT
There is a major gap in the education provided by frameworks and methodologies in regards to the integration and synergy between the Business and IT
Already some universities and colleges offer ITIL and project management courses as part of their IT (or IS or MIS) curriculum. However, this is not enough.
I am not the first person to think about this and I know there is a sub-committee within ITSMF to look into lTIL in academia. However, I don’t think they are comunicating about this enoiugh
In order to move best practices forward the business world should look at hiring people from universities and colleges with such courses as part of their diploma. The best practices should not be limited to ITIL but should include introductory and intermediate courses. The introductory and intermediate level courses should be similar to the ones for accounting, marketing, management, and so on. The frameworks and methodologies covered could include topics such as ITIL, COBIT, Project Management, Security Management, ISO, Six-Sigma, CMMI, and Risk Management.
The primary objectives should be to introduce the students to the framework or methodology and cover the relationship between the business and IT. The courses should be designed to help business people gain a better understanding of managing the relationship with IT. The target audience should be aimed at people in any business curriculum.
The same approach should be used for people pursuing an IT-based curriculum.
Actually it may make a significant difference if the students in an IT-based curriculum attended the same courses proposed above.
Business, Academia and Service Management professionals involved with best practice management should get together to discuss this further and make it a reality.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
About the recently announced ITIL books updates from OGC
Most of you probably know by now that the OGC has announced they will update the ITIL V3 books.
The updates will correct spelling and grammatical errors of course (and hopefully). The updates will also look at correcting inconsistencies between books where some statements in one book contradicts one in another book. In addition the structure for certain books will be adjusted. I am thinking of the CSI book where section 4.1 is about 14 pages long with no subsections. Then section 4.1suffers from the same illness and goes on for 8 pages. I know my Pink Elephant colleagues Gary and George wrote the book. This is an oversight. In their defence, the book was reviewed by over 50 people and this was not corrected. I am not here to pint fingers. Errors and mistakes happen.
I am actually delighted to hear about this revision. I just have a few concerns
1. Who are the people making the corrections?
2. Will they consult the original authors to ensure the revisions are consistent with the authors’ intentions?
3. How many errors, omissions and changes have been identified?
4. Will the reviewers add their own spin to the material?
5. Will the reviewers modify the material to what they believe should have been there in the first place?
6. Will the reviewers remove material they believe should not have been there in the first place?
7. Who is reviewing the change requests to ensure they are indeed valid and are best practices?
8. What is the target date for the new versions to be available to the public?
9. How will this affect the Qualification scheme and the exams?
10. Will the examiners be given enough lead time to amend the syllabuses and questions if necessary
11. Will there be sufficient time to test and pilot the revisions to the syllabuses and exams?
12. Will this in turn allow the accredited training organization (ATO) sufficient time to update their course material?
13. Will this affect the ITIL compatible tools on the market or about to hit the market?
14. Will there be regular communication updates from the parties involved to the IT community at large?
15. How will the revisions affect the translations for the glossaries and exams?
16. How will the revisions affect the mapping between ITIL and various other frameworks and methodologies?
17. How will this revision affect the complementary guidance books already published or being written presently?
By the way if you want to see the current request for changes for the ITIL v3 books, you can ego to the official ITIL website, sign up and view the requests. Just a word of warning, there are RFCs for other frameworks and methodologies as well so it takes a while to sort out the ITIL ones.
Please visit the Change Control System on the Official ITIL Website at:
OGC’s Change Control System link
Or you can thank your truly and download the attached spreadsheet that ONLY contains the ITIL related RFCs. Let me add here that if the OGC received requests and suggestions via other means such as email, I do not know if they are part of this list. This list is accurate as of Friday September 11.
RFC_log_for_all_ITIL_v3_publications.xls
P.S. I have a few other concerns but they are politically incorrect for this blog
Positive feedback about ITIL - What is your feelgood story about Service Management?
There are many naysayers about ITIL and ITSM, some more vocal than others of course. . There are the very public ones and the ones that quietly undermine things. There are many so-called “horror” stories; I lived through a few personally. I know it is human nature to prefer to talk about and point out negative “stuff “far more than positive things. I am positively certain there are far more good stories than bad stories about Service Management. I read a long time ago that people will tell up to eleven people about a bad story and in turn these eleven people will do the same. In a very short time, 122 (11 x 11 + the originator) will know about the bad story. This story has very likely taken on more horrific features along the way.
On the flip side a person only tells 2 or 3 people about a feel story which, unfortunately does not go any further. Hum! 122 people who heard a bad story vs. only 4 who heard about a good story.
Then, of course, in these days of blogging, twittering (?), instant messaging, it is easy for people to start a discussion and for people to get dragged down so deep everyone loses sight of the original point, things get out of control, tempers flare and people write things they should not.
However, I know there are real and positive success stories about Service Management. The proof is simple, look at the various organizations presenting their case studies at various Service Management Conferences.
“Marketing Plug Alert”: Pink Elephant has many interesting case studies coming up at our ITSM conference in Vegas in February 2010!
So I am challenging everyone out there to provide a positive story about how Service Management helped you personally, your team, your organization. The result may be as simple as finding the root cause of a problem to better collaboration and communication and of course saving money.
Come on. Take a few minutes and tell us about your positive story. Make a difference and be part of the solution. Let us start a new trend and flood the ITIL airwaves with positivity.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
What if services did not exist?
A service is something that someone offers you instead of you doing everything from the proverbial “A to Z”.
Now imagine a world without services.
We would only have products available to us then, would we not?
Let us start our little scenario.
Imagine being a lone castaway on a deserted island with animals (a few predators to make things interesting), edible vegetation, and sources of potable water. You have absolutely no technology, no mobile phone, no computers, no GPS, nothing that requires electricity or batteries. You could argue the sun and the wind are sources of energy but there are no solar panels and no windmills.
You also have no tools at your disposal, no hammers, no screwdrivers, no saw, no knife, no spoon, no fork and especially no all-purpose, all-everything Swiss Army knife. You do not even have any personal hygiene products of any kind (sorry). You are the sole person in a pristine primal world. There are no ruins, no secret cache of anything. In fact, you are the first person ever to set foot on this island. By the way, there are no search parties looking for you either.
There are no services at your disposal. There are no products at your disposal.
You now have to do everything yourself. You cannot purchase anything for there is no one to sell you anything and there is nothing already made. You cannot barter for the same reasons.
Everything you need, you have to build from scratch; your tools, your shelter, your clothes, your fire, your fishing gear, etc. You have to pick your fruits from the trees and bushes. You have to pick or dig up your vegetables. You have to kill animals and prepare all by yourself if you want to eat meat. The same goes for seafood. You have to do day for as long as you stay alone on the island (and I am keeping you there for a few years).
By the way, Mother Nature is not providing you with any services here either. That philosophical discussion is totally out of scope of this scenario.
What the above scenario illustrates is that everything we can produce, offer, sell, barter, exchange, or purchase (no stealing allowed!) in our current world is a service.
You may call that service whatever you like. The fact is, a service is service is a service.
Whatever we purchase from others is a service because someone else has taken on the burden of the ownership of specific costs and risks. We require that service for a particular reason (call it a goal, a vision, or an objective if you like).
Let us assume you need a can of beans. You go to the grocery store, to the appropriate shelf, go the the csh register and pay for the can of beans. However, you did not have to till the soil, plant, irrigate, harvest, ship, transform, distribute and put it in on the shelf. You did not have to negotiate any contracts or build anything. Someone else did it for you.
Let us assume you need petrol/gas/fuel for your car. You go to the gas station, pump the gas into the tank, pay for the gas and on your way you go. However you did not have to search a suitable oil field, extract it from the ground, ship it to a refinery, refine it, and distribute it. Someone else did it for you.
In both examples, other departments and functions are involved as well, marketing, sales, advertising, human resources, management, warehousing, distribution, production, accounting, contract negotiations, investments, building maintenance. In the above examples, the organizations may be a huge single corporation, a conglomerate or a group of small companies doing work for the next one in the chain. all has to pay taxes, mortgages or leases, electricity, gas, air conditioning, heating, personnel, contractors, telecommunications, office supplies, etc.
In the 1800s all documentation, record keeping, contracts, shipping manifests, were done on paper. Computations were done on paper or with a abacus or in your brain. Communication used the means of the day such as riders on horses, coaches, ships, and plain old walking.
Today we are a tad more sophisticated but the concepts have not changed. The tools used are different, the speed is different I’ll grant you that. However, instead of writing on paper, we use various electronic devises more and more powerful each day.
Did I forget about IT in this story? Of course not! it is simply a different form of record keeping and means of communication. Look at what you business does (i.e.: you lines of business) and these are your services. Yes, you will have supporting services and sub-services and systems and applications and hardware and middleware and firmware and networks and wires and wireless and many other components.
IT is directly providing services to the other departments making up the organization. They are indirectly providing services to the external customers when an employee needs to use a computerized device to do their work whether they are directly customer-facing or not. IT is also providing services to the external customers in the form of the website, the self-service kiosks in retail stores, gas stations, parking lots, airport kiosks, etc.
IT is providing a service to the external customer when…
...the delivery person comes to your door with a package from grandma,
...someone dispatches someone to execute a task; emergency personnel, law enforcement, plumbers, taxis, etc.
...we use our credit cards or an RFID tag at gas station.
...a manufacturer uses RFID tags when shipping goods to a merchant.
...you watch television or use the phone
...a store associated uses a cash register
...an HR person surf job sites to look for employees
...business does business
“A service is a means of delivering value to Customers by facilitating outcomes Customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks.”
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Certification, Designation, Diploma and Qualification
There still seem to be some confusion about the ITIL® qualification scheme and the certificates one can achieve.
Let me explore the definition of a few words first (in alphabetical order); certification, certificate, designation, diploma and qualification. Please note that I only used the part of the definition relevant to this discussion. The definitions are from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
Merriam Webster online dictionary
Certification
Pronunciation: \ˌsər-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən\
The act of certifying: the state of being certified
Certify
Pronunciation: \ˈsər-tə-ˌfī\
1: to attest authoritatively: as
a: confirm
b: to present in formal communication
c: to attest as being true or as represented or as meeting a standard
4: to recognize as having met special qualifications such as of a governmental agency or professional board within a field e.g.: agencies that certify teachers
Synonyms certify, attest, witness, and vouch
Certificate
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)sər-ˈti-fi-kət\
1: a document containing a certified statement especially as to the truth of something; specifically: a document certifying that one has fulfilled the requirements of and may practice in a field
Designation
Pronunciation: \ˌde-zig-ˈnā-shən\
2: appointment to or selection for an office, post, or service
3: a distinguishing name, sign, or title
Diploma
Pronunciation: \də-ˈplō-mə\
2: a writing usually under seal conferring some honour or privilege
3: a document bearing record of graduation from or of a degree conferred by an educational institution
Qualification
Pronunciation: \ˌkwä-lə-fə-ˈkā-shən\
3 a: a quality or skill that fits a person (as for an office) e.g.: the applicant with the best qualifications
Using the above definitions, we can now better define the meaning of the ITIL® qualification scheme.
The ITIL® Qualification scheme (a quality or skill that fits a person) awards certificates (a document containing a certified statement especially as to the truth of something; specifically: a document certifying that one has fulfilled the requirements of and may practice in a field to the people). The Examination Institutes award certificates to individuals who after attending an accredited course provided by an Accredited Training Provider (ATO), achieves a passing mark (or higher) for an examination based on an established course syllabus. The only exception for the mandatory attendance to an accredited course applies to the Foundation certification.
The Examination Institutes award the ITIL® Expert certificate to an individual who successfully completes the requirements for this certification. See the Official ITIL® Website for details.
The Examination Institutes will award the ITIL® Master certificate to an individual who successfully completes the requirements for this certification. Please note this certification is still under development. See the Official ITIL® Website for details.
Upon receiving any of the eleven currently available core ITIL® V3 certificates, individuals do not achieve a designation. They cannot use the course acronym as if it were a designation. The successful candidate can list their achieved certifications in a curriculum vitae (CV) or résumé.
The ITIL® v2 – v3 bridging certifications and the certification schemes based on the previous versions of ITIL® do not provide any designation either.
Please note that the certificates are not diplomas. However, many universities around the world now include ITIL® courses as part of their curriculum. So who knows?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Methodologies & Frameworks
Van Haren Publishing (http://www.wanhren.net) and itSMF International (http://www.itsmf.org) co-publish a book called Frameworks for IT Management. The book covers 26 frameworks and methodologies. (Frameworks for IT Management a Pocket Guide - Table 1, pages 33 & 34)
1. TQM - Total Quality Management
2. EFQM - the European Foundation for Quality Management
3. ISO 9000 - Quality management system
4. ISI/IEC 20000 - ITSM standard
5. TOFAF™ - The Open Group Architecture Framework
6. Tickit - Quality Management For IT
7. ISO/IES 19770- Software Asset Management
8. ISO/IEC 15504 - SPICE
9. ISO/IEC 27001 - Information Security Management Systems
10. CMMI - Capability Maturity Model Integration
11. Six Sigma
12. eSCM-SP v2 - eSourcing Capability For Service Providers, version 2
13. IT Balanced Scorecard - The Management System For Strategic Performance And Results
14. AS 801-2005 - Australian Standard For Corporate Governance For IT
15. COBIT - Control Objectives For Information & related Technology
16. M_o_R - Management of Risk
17. Generic Framework For Information Management
18. ITIL version 3
19. BiSL - The Business Information Services Library
20. ISPL - The Information Service Procurement Library
21. eTOM - The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map
22. ASL - The Application Services Library
23. MSP - Managing Successful Programme
24. PRINCE2 - Projects IN Controlled Environments
25. PMBoK - The Project Management Body Of Knowledge
26. IPMA Competence Baseline
The Service Design Book, section 3.6.3 Table 3.1 on page 37 lists 18 Enterprise Architecture frameworks. There is only one overlap with the list above - TOGAF.
1. ARIS- Architecture of Integrated Information Systems Framework
2. Bredemeyer - Bredemeyer Framework
3. BTEP - Business Transformation Enablement Programme Transformation Framework
4. C4ISR - Command, Control, Communications, Computers Intelligences Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
5. Catalyst - CSC Catalyst
6. CIMOSA - Computer Integrated Manufacturing Open Systems Architecture
7. Gartner - Enterprise Architecture Framework
8. EAP - Enterprise Architecture Planning
9. E2AF - Extended Enterprise Architecture Framework
10. FEA - FEA Reference Models
11. GERAM - Generalized Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology
12. IAF - Integrated Architecture Framework
13. Forrester - Pillars of EA
14. RM-ODP - Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing
15. TAFIM - Technical Architectural Framework Information Management
16. TEAF - Treasury Enterprise Architecture Framework
17. TOGAF - TOGAF Technical Reference Model
18. Zachman - Zachman Framework
In addition, there are others such as:
o P3M3 - Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Maturity Model (OGC)
o P3O - Portfolio, Programme, and Project Offices (OGC)
o ValIT - Based on COBIT
o Risk lIT - Based on COBIT
Let us not forget that the International Standards Organization (ISO) has developed over 17,500 International Standards on a variety of subjects, and some 1,100 new ISO standards are published every year.
To the above lists, we have to add all of the industry specific standards and regulations affecting every single department in every organization. Here are some of them in alphabetical order:
o Accounting and finance
o Code of ethics for all trades and professions
o Communication and public relations
o Contracts
o Corporate citizenship
o Customs and custom duties
o Employee conduct
o Environmental law and practices
o Food and drugs
o Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
o Human resources
o Human rights
o International law
o International trade (includes free trade agreements)
o Law practices
o Marketing & advertising
o Municipal, county, state, provincial, and federal laws and by-laws
o Transportation including that of dangerous materials
o Workers Unions
o Workplace safety
The list is far from complete and I apologize in advance if I forgot your framework, methodology or practice.
But where am I going with this? You can use the above as a reference tool and stop right here. However, this entry has another purpose; read on.
This blog entry is not about bashing any of the above. It is about providing the naysayers, the people who have nothing positive to say about anything more topics to complain.
None of the above topics is perfect. Moreover, none covers everything. It is a combination of all the above that make an organization successful.
I do not agree with everything and I am certainly not an expert in all of the above. It is ok to disagree; however, instead of saying that something is bad, missing, that it should be (or not be) this or that, why not try to be positive about it and propose constructive solutions.
Just a thought…